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Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Windows more Secure than Mac? - Tech Tuesday

Hey all! I hope you all are doing just great! :) My internal practicals started yesterday, but somehow I found little time for my blog. So I'm in a hurry right now. Anyways, It's Tuesday, rather Tech Tuesday. So let's see what we got to talk about today.

On Sunday somebody suggested me reading about the Security risks mac is facing. I just came to know it actually was Mac security is '10 years behind Microsoft', as said by Kaspersky! From my readings I found out some nice bunch of info and also some info about Avast taking Mac security seriously! :D Read the article to explore, let me blend the two news for you all my dear readers! :)

Eugene Kaspersky, the CEO of security firm Kaspersky Lab, says Apple is headed for a rough patch. However, this one's in the world of computer security, and he says Apple is already getting into the thick of it. Kaspersky said that when it comes to computer security, Apple's Mac platform was a decade behind Microsoft's, and that it's got some things to learn from its rival.

"They will understand very soon that they have the same problems Microsoft had 10 or 12 years ago," Kaspersky said in an interview. "They will have to make changes in terms of the cycle of updates and so on and will be forced to invest more into their security audits for the software."

"That's what Microsoft did in the past after so many incidents like Blaster and the more complicated worms that infected millions of computers in a short time," he added. "They had to do a lot of work to check the code to find mistakes and vulnerabilities. Now it's time for Apple [to do the same]."

The statements come on the heels of Flashback, a high-profile piece of Mac malware that is estimated to have infected more than 600,000 Macs at its peak. More recent figures put its current infection somewhere at less than 185,000 machines worldwide. Well those are figures, I can;t help. 185,000 is just too high even if we don't talk about the peak time 600,000 infections!

Apple patched the system vulnerability the Flashback attacks were using, and released a removal tool for infected machines. But the company got flack from security experts for not fixing it sooner. Security companies -- including Kaspersky -- also made Apple look slow to react by offering up their own detection and removal tools ahead of an official fix.

Apple has, in fact, hardened Mac OS X against attackers in recent years, as well as shown off plans for added protective measures in future versions of the software. The last two major versions of Mac OS X has a built-in malware scanner called XProtect that is able to spot and quarantine known malware. Soon the company will also mandate that apps sold on its App Store will be compliant with new sandboxing rules designed to keep apps from doing any damage to user files, or other parts of the OS.

Apple's also announced Gatekeeper, a technology that will be built into the upcoming release of OS X Mountain Lion, that gives users a way to install only software that's been signed by registered developers. Even with those things on tap, Kaspersky argues that Apple's success will continue to make the Mac a bigger target. "Cyber criminals have now recognized that Mac is an interesting area. Now we have more [malware], it's not just Flashback or Flashfake," Kaspersky told CBR. "Welcome to Microsoft's world, Mac. It's full of malware" Sounds rather like the cyber criminals are challenging Mac developers, but does Apple care? An Apple spokesman declined to comment on Kaspersky's remarks, which rather shows some truth in Kaspersky remarks. being such a pioneer in security, I don't think we can doubt Kaspersky's statements, and at the same time Apple being quiet on that rather indicates how true is that. With just 5% market share in the PC market, malware and virus writers have mostly ignored the Mac. However, Apple’s iPhone success now makes them a target that coincides with the explosion of mobile security concerns overall. Lacking strong experience in enterprise computing where security issues are paramount, it’s reasonable to expect more problems such as the recent AT&T email address breach on the iPad. Mobile devices and cloud applications don’t enjoy the end-to-end control that Apple has on the MacIntosh platform.

On one hand when Kaspersky slammed Mac for being in a rather slumber about the security threats, Avast seems to be taking a move helping it, although I doubt would Apple like it? What I see Apple to be as an egoistic firm, which would continue to be in that "I don't give a f#?k" situation until it's hold on the market is under a severe threat. I wonder when would someone beat Apple in quality so that it may understand that YES! YOUR PRICES IS UNJUST! >_<
Avast is about to introduce the latest version of its Mac security suite (maybe it has already done! I guess I need to check the stats! :O), just a few weeks after Flashback, the third major OS X security scare in a year. The company touts an unblemished record of blocking the virulent malware as evidence that its suite is a must-have.
Avast Free Antivirus 7 for Mac(Beta already available, I'm unsure of the full version though as yet), brings to the Mac several features that have made the Windows version one of the best free security suites. Along with an up-to-date version of the Avast antivirus and anti-malware engine and a redone interface, it ports Avast's Web Shield to the Mac. Web Shield protects against the kind of drive-by downloads that Trojans like Flashback can use to spread. Updates to the File Reputation Shield and Mail Shield are included; the WebRep browser add-on for increased browser security is now available for Mac builds of Safari, Firefox, and Chrome; and the suite now automatically updates its antivirus engine and program files.

There are more similarities with the Windows version, which aren't particularly surprising. You must register to run the free suite, and you can opt out of anonymously contributing data to Avast's community-supported security database. Opting out does not prevent you from gaining the security benefits of the community, though. This register thing is quite irritating at times, but hey! When you are getting the software for free, then what's the harm to get the added benefits?! :D :D:D

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